Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 73192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
The t-shirt that he wore was stretched like a second skin over a taut chest that looked like it’d been honed inside of the gym during what were obviously frequent and vigorous workouts.
He had bright blue eyes lined by long, dark eyelashes that I would need several coats of mascara and possibly the addition of fake lashes, to have any hope of achieving that length.
And his foot was tapping in his muck boots as he looked at me incredulously.
How had he gotten all the way down to the dock without me hearing him coming?
I waved.
He scowled.
“This is private property,” he said.
I stood up and winced when my knees popped.
When I was a young girl, I’d started playing softball.
I was good, too.
I’d even made the Olympic team.
I hadn’t gone, though. Why you ask, would a person turn down an Olympic team begging for you to play for them?
Well, it wasn’t by choice. My choice, anyway.
My boyfriend at the time had begged and pleaded with me not to accept their offer. He didn’t like that I’d be in Arizona for at least six months training with the team.
When I’d told him I was going anyway, he got angry and purposely crashed the car that we were in and shattered every single one of my dreams in the process.
My knee had suffered the most damage and at the age of twenty-one, my softball career had officially ended.
Four years later and I was still trying to figure out a way for my knee not to hate me when the weather changed or I overdid the exercise.
I started trudging out of the woods without another word, slinging my backpack onto my shoulders as I did.
If I hurried, I might make it to the blind date on time. I had about a half-mile walk back down to the public access boat ramp and from there, it was about a mile and a half down the road to the property that I was renting for the spring and summer.
“You do realize that the entire five acres that you’ll be walking through to get to the main road is someone else’s property, correct?” the man asked, interrupting my thoughts.
I shrugged.
Yeah, I knew.
Although, if I had been on the outer five feet of this particular section of land, I wouldn’t be on that person’s property…but, unfortunately, that was currently under water from all the rain we’d been getting, so, yes, I was trespassing, again.
“You do know how to use big girl words, don’t you?”
Alrighty then. The sexy man was also a dick.
I turned and gave him my eyes.
I didn’t say anything, but I did give him the stink eye.
His lips twitched in amusement.
He found my anger funny?
Nice.
I turned around and continued to walk, but his voice stopped me once again.
“Did you steal something?” he asked.
This time, though, he wasn’t by the dock where he had been standing. He was on the ground, in the mud right along with me.
I looked at him over my shoulder and said, “No.”
“I saw you put something in your bag,” he pushed.
I dropped my backpack off one shoulder and then reached into the pocket with the moss that I’d put in a petri dish and showed it to him.
He took the dish out of my hands and before I could reach for it, he had the thing open.
Once he’d taken my moss, he handed the dish back.
“Next time, don’t steal.” He paused. “Or possibly ask permission to be on someone’s property.”
I narrowed my eyes to dangerous slits that clearly relayed my unhappiness.
But, he was right.
I was on his property.
But dammit! I’d have to come back later on tonight to get that moss, because I needed it for my thesis.
I had a few tests I wanted to run on it and currently his trees were the only ones I could reach from my house since the damn lake was so flooded.
I stomped a little harder than I should have and felt the mud slosh up the side of my boots and start leaking down inside.
God. Dammit.
I turned around and was going to glare at the man and possibly ask for belated permission, but he was gone.
I halted, tempted to turn around and snatch some more moss, but as soon as I had my foot turned in the opposite direction, his voice stopped me.
“Don’t even think about it,” he growled.
That came from in front of me.
I jumped, whirled and lost my footing, ending up ass first in the cool mud.
I breathed through clenched teeth and looked up at the smiling man.
Was throat punching illegal?
I should probably move off of his property before I did that though since it wouldn’t look good for me if I was arrested.
And my dad would be pissed. Again.
Not to mention, I might get a criminal record and then I’d lose my scholarship.